Safety pin



March 2; 1943. c. A. DIES SAFETYPIN Filed Aug. 12, 1942 Patented Mar. 2, 1943 UN [TED STATE S PAT ENT F F IC E SAFETY PIN Charles A. Dies, Chicago, Ill.

Application August 12, 1942, Serial No. 454,610

(Cl. 24h-161)v Claims- My invention relates to safety pins, and has particular reference to the provision ofmeans fer-retaining the point of the pin-in engagement with the head or guard, when the safety.l pin is fastenedfto the. garment;

In the user of' theordinary'safety pin having a tongue for guiding the pointV into. engagement withthe head andi retaining it thereinthe tongue is not always.- effective in holding. thepoint withthehead, and should the point become disengaged. it not only defeats the. object of holding theY point. in place; but, also,- exposes the same sort-hat., it is likely toprick the skin of the user, the latter objection being particularly distressing when the safety pin is. used for fastening the garments of; infants; prompting the provision ofi additional; retaining means which. so far as I am advised, are cumbersome. or otherwise. ob.-

jectionable.

The principal objectof my invention therefore is to provide a simple and effective lock point safety pin inl which theY means for locking the point within the head or guardwill serve to posi'- tively retain the pin in: closed position when fastened to. the garmentthereby increasing its reliability-and by the inclusion thereof in connectionV with an. ordinary safetyk pin it will not add. materially tothe cost of, production as a new article of manufacture..

A f'urther object. of.` my invention is to providean. ordinary type of safety pin with a point retaining meansk or keeper thatV can be easily and conveniently manipulated for the. purpose of openingy and. closing the pin, and` when in locked position will: maintain the. members thereof in spaced. apart. relation for rmly'hol'ding thepoint other or companion member of the pin, in association with projections for maintaining the ing means or keeper in operative position .when

the safety pin is closed.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a. front elevation showing the position of the locking device or'keeper out of locking engagement' and the garment fastening member of the pin out of engagement with the head.

Figs. 4, 5fand 6 are detail views of the locking device or keeper, and

Fig. 7 isa plan View of' the. blank from which the keeper is formed.

As shown in the Ydrawing. my invention, hereinafter described. is applied to av conventional type of safety pin in which a length. of spring wire is. bent. or coiled upon itself to provideJ parallel mem-bers one of which, 8., may be termed the rear member and the other, 9; the front member-the' spring coil having. the usual shield and the rear member provided at its outer end with a head or sheet metal guard I 0 with retaining'lips between which the point of the front or. garment fasteningv member is guidedv byv the tongueV4 III. In carrying out my invention I retain the point of the safety pin within the head in a reliable and' dependable manner by means of a locking device hingedly connected tov and slidableon the. rear member for locking engagement with the other or garment engaging member, the said" locking device, being adapted to. notonly close the inner end ofthe head. tov securely retain thel point of' the pin therein but' also serves to rmly hold the garment engaging member in position in respectto the head of the safety pin.

The locking device or keeper-referredito generally by the numeral |2--is made of sheet metal shaped to form a rectangularbody portion I3 Abent' upon itself at opposite ends to. provide' an eye l'4 at one end' and a hook |35 at the other end for interlocking engagement with the spaced apart members of the safety pin, and for retaining the point of the pin within the head. The` body portion of the locking device is also provided with an inwardly projecting portion I6 the outer end of which is bent abruptly to form a short projection 16a adapted to close the inner end of the head or lips between which the point of the pin is held in closed position. To cooperate with the hook l5 the locking device is provided with an outwardly projecting member Il at one side of the projecting portion I6 to form a lug to confine the garment fastening member 9 between it and the hook, with a similar lug I8 adjoining the hinge-eye for reinforcing the connection of the latter to the other or companion member of the safety pin. For protecting the material of the garment-to which the safety pin is fastened-from being cut or torn against the inner edge of the body portion I3, a longitudinal rib I9 is formed by bending the plank abruptly, and this also serves to stiifen the locking device, being augmented by the projections I6, I1 and I8, whereby the locking device will not become bent or distorted in the use of the safety pin.

The operation of the locking device or keeper will be readily understood by reference to the drawings, from which it will be noted that the safety pin is adapted to be used in fastening together articles of clothing. In use, the locking device, hinged to the rear member 8, is disengaged from the garment fastening member 9 and swung down to permit the safety pin to be opened as shown in Fig. 3. The member 9 is then free to be passed through the garment or garments and sprung into engagement with the head, after the manner of an ordinary safety pin, after which the locking device is swung to engage the hook with the Agarment fastening member between the garment vand head with which the point is in engagement, whereby said garmentfastening member is held against displacement by lug I'I in cooperation with the hook and pressure of the fastened portion of the garment against the rear .edge of the locking device maintains the latter in position against the head of the safety pin. Y In other words, the safety pinis fastened to the clothing in the same manner as an ordinary safety .of the locking device or keeper on the member to which it is hinged the latter may be, and preferably is, provided with a stop 20 formed by slightlyflattening 'said member, and of course this stop may be located closer to thehead to assure the locking device assuming the position shown in Fig. 2 when in locked position.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that my invention provides a very simple and effective locking device that can be em*- ployed in connection with an ordinary safety .pin without adding materially to the cost of the same, and in addition to being easily manipulated will effect a reliable measure of protection against the point of the pin becoming disengaged, theref by fulfilling the main purpose for which safety pins are designed. Y

I claim:

1. In combination with a safety pin having spaced apart members the rear member of which is provided with a guard withwhich the pointed garment fastening member engages, of a device for locking the point within the guard comprising a sheet metal piece having an eye at one end -by which the device is hingedly connected to the rear member of the safety pin, a hook at the other end adapted to engage the garment fastening member, and a projection on the locking device cooperating with the hook to retain the garment fastening member in closed position with respect to the guard.

2. In combination with a safety pin having spaced apart members the rear member of which is provided with a guard with which the pointed garment fastening member engages, of a .device vfor locking the point within the guard comprising a sheet metal piece having an eye at one end by :which the device is hingedly connected to the rear member of the safety pin, a hook at the other end adapted to engage the garment fastening i member, a projection cooperating with the hook to hold said member with the point in engagement with the guard, and a projection adjoining the hinge-eye to reinforce its engagement with the member of the safety pin to which it is connected. v

3. In combination with asafety pin having spaced apart members the rear member of which is provided with a guard open at its inner end to receive the point of the garment fastening member, of a device for locking the point within the guard comprising a sheet metal piece having an .eye at one end by which it is hingedly connected to Vthe rear member of the safety pin, a hook at the other end adapted to engage the garment fastening member, a projection cooperating with the hook to retain the garment fastening member in engagement with the guard, a projection or lugadjoining the eye to reinforce its connection with the other member of the safety pin, and an inwardly projecting portion at the center of the locking device having an inturned end closing the inner end of the guard.

4. A locking device for safety pins in accordance with claim 1, and including a longitudinal rib at the inner Vedge thereof to stiifen the device and protect the clothing bearing against the same when the safety pin is in use.

5. A locking device adapted to be used in connection with an ordinary safety pin, said device being made up of a piece of sheet metal shaped to form a rectangular body portion with a hook and an eye at opposite ends thereof, outwardly projecting portions or lugs adjoining` the-inner yside of said hookand eye respectively to reinforce their connection with the spaced apart membersv ofthe safety pin, a central projection at one side 'of the body portion, anda longitudinal rib atthe other side or edge thereof, the lugs cooperating with the hook and eyein respect to' the parts of .the vsafety pin with Awhich they engage and the rib stiiening the sheet metal device as wellas protecting the clothing which engages -therewith when the safety pin is in use. y

- CHARLES A. DIES. 

